Attorney General Stein Calls on Secretary DeVos to Help Students Displaced By Closing Schools

Release date: 10/10/2018

(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein urged U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to help former North Carolina students at Dream Center schools obtain relief for student debt by extending the closed school discharge (CSD) eligibility period for these students. Attorney General Stein is asking Secretary DeVos to declare any students who were enrolled at a Dream Center school as of July 2, 2018, eligible for CSD.

“Students at Dream Center schools were left with little information and lots of student debt when their schools abruptly announced their closure,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “I’m asking Secretary DeVos to help me protect these students and give them a real chance at a fresh educational and financial start by forgiving their loans.”

CSD allows former students of schools that have closed to be eligible for full forgiveness of their federal student loans if they were enrolled within 120 days of the school’s closure.

In July, Dream Center abruptly announced that it would be closing all of its North Carolina schools – the Art Institutes of Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, and South University in High Point. However, after its initial closing announcement, Dream Center failed to announce a firm closure date until months later. Furthermore, it did not provide adequate information on the CSD option to students. Many students were forced to make decisions about their education and financial future without valuable information about their school’s closing date and options to have their student debt forgiven.

Attorney General Stein initially contacted the Department of Education in July to seek assurances that Dream Center students would be protected and well-informed after their schools were closed. His request to extend school discharge eligibility for Dream Center students follows a similar request made on behalf of Charlotte School of Law students in 2017 after that school closed. Secretary DeVos extended the closed school discharge eligibility period for CSL students to help them obtain relief for student debt.